Student of the Week

Who doesn't appreciate a little attention?

Every fall I begin a Student of the Week recognition activity with my fifth grade class, and they LOVE it! I can see it in the beaming faces when I announce who the special person is on Monday morning.

I have my Student of the Week help out with special jobs around the classroom, they receive a special Brag Tag for their chain,

AND the rest of the students contribute a special anonymous message about what makes this person great so I can put together a poster that goes home with each child! THIS is the really special part of the process!

Because I insist the messages are anonymous, the students are all free to write something really awesome about their peers without it becoming a popularity contest, or without any awkwardness due to gender. I put the messages together along with a photo taken in the first few weeks of the school year, to create a poster that is laminated for preservation. You can see an example below.

I had confirmation of just how special this is to my kiddos when a
former grade 5 student (now in grade 11) worked in my room for a co-op
placement this year. She told me that she STILL had her Student of the
Week poster, from 6 years before, displayed in her bedroom. Boy, did it
ever make me happy to hear THAT!

This isn't the clearest photo, but it is basically what the posters look like just before laminating. To help students out with some potential comments, I created a SMART Board file that we pull up every week. If you'd like to try out this SMART Board product, you can pick it up at my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Sunday Spotlight

In other news, I am extremely honored to have been chosen by my new blogger friend, Michaela, over at The Center Based Classroom, to be the focus of her Sunday Spotlight! :)

You might have seen her name or blog mentioned once or twice (or dozens of times!) this week since she is hosting the incredible Teachers for Boston fund raiser! She is even to be included in the TpT Newsletter this week! And for good reason... The last update I saw indicated an amazing $2500 had been raised!!

There's still time to pick up one or both of the HUGE teaching product bundles (valued at $150 and $180) for only $20!! Click on either of the images to head right to Michaela's blog, The Center Based Classroom, and follow this awesome teacher and person! :) Thanks, Michaela!